Last year I posted a rather lengthy blog about Hammer Tri Camp. This year's post will be a bit shorter since my experience was not quite as successful. For those of you that would like a more detailed look at the lunacy that is Hammer Camp feel free to check out my post from last year. Fat Camp 2012
I was really excited going into camp. The dates of camp were custom tailored around the date of IMCDA to maximize our fitness going into Ironman. All the guys participating in camp were scheduled to compete in Idaho on 6/23. I look forward to camp every year because it is a great opportunity to get away from everything and suffer with some of my favorite bros in the mountains. The camaraderie is the best part of the trip and our experience at ZAP is always first class.
This year Moose, Rob Green, Jeff Tunstall, Justin Moyer and myself were the lucky campers. Our group was a bit of a mash unit. When we arrived on the first day, Moose tweaked his hip flexor on our shake out run. His injury ultimately prevented him from running for the rest of the trip and has led him to drop out of IMCDA. I am really bummed for him because his fitness is second to none and I really think he was set up to have an unbelievable performance at the race. On the first day Rob was battling a severe cold and he ended up in bed for almost 24 hours. I managed to injure myself on the second day....more about that later.
This year there were several changes to the camp schedule tailored to maximize our training. The plan was to move our long ride of Blood, Sweat and Gears to the first day after an hour long swim at the rec center. We didn't want Rob to miss BSG so we moved BSG to day two and our first day ended up being similar to last year except longer and harder.
Day one consisted of a morning swim at the rec center where we got in about 4000 yards. We left from the parking lot and did our Grandfather Mountain ride with an additional extension up the backside of Grandfather. The ride was 54 miles and took about 3 hours and 15 minutes. It is a tough ride but certainly not the toughest of the weekend. It is a good way to find your climbing legs with about 10,000 feet of climbing. We finished up the day with a 13.5 mile run at Moses Cone Park from Black Bottom to the fire tower. This run is tough and is basically uphill for 8 miles followed by 5 miles back down. The run took nearly 2 hours and included 2500 feet of elevation gain. I had a good consistent day on Day One and was solid across all 3 sessions. I had a particularly strong run and made great time up to the firetower.
Day two was Blood, Sweat and Gears. Rob was good to go on day two and we set out on the BSG course with a few changes. This year we started at Moses Cone which meant that we would finish the 112 mile ride by climbing up Shulls Mill Road. This is a 45 minute climb with like 83 switchbacks. Definitely a tough way to close out a 7 hour ride. Prior to the ride we got in another swim at the rec center and we suited up for a long day in the saddle. I felt pretty good for the first 90 minutes but about 2 hours into the ride I began to get quite uncomfortable in the saddle. Somewhere in the 40 mile range we got to Todd Store and I was already beginning to think that my ass was so uncomfortable that I wasn't sure if I could carry on. For some strange reason I was getting extreme saddle chaffage (I am still at a loss at what caused this). The pain increased throughout the day and the last 5 hours were an exquisite form of agony. By the end of the ride I was screaming like a little girl every time I shifted on the saddle. It was so bad that I couldn't keep up with the guys on the flats and the downhills because each pedal stroke was like a dagger. It was frustrating because my climbing legs were strong and I was able to catch back on the climbs when I was out of the saddle. Unfortunately, this created a yo-yo effect with me hanging on for dear life for the last half of the ride. It was exhausting to be on and off the back. I was able to hang with the group until Mile 80ish and then I just couldn't hold on. It was time for a long ride back by myself. Honestly I should have pulled the rip cord because I was in so much pain, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.....stupid pride. I gutted through the whole ride and finished, but it came at a cost. When I pulled back into the parking lot I was greeted by Moose who said, "Is that blood on your saddle?!?!" It turns out that it was blood on my saddle, and I had managed to chafe all the skin off my ass. This resulted in about 9 days off the bike to heal and me being shut down for the remainder of camp.
On Day 3 I was able to participate in the open water swim in at Watauga lake but that was all I could muster given my ass situation. Needless to say it sucked being an observer for the remainder of camp. Fortunately for me (but not the other guys) the weather took a turn for the worse and the next few days were filled with rain. This resulted in no Howard's knob climb and an abbreviated ride on Sunday (no Beech mountain). My frustration was somewhat mitigated by the fact that I didn't miss as much as I might have if the weather was normal.
When I got back from camp I spent the next week nursing my ass back to health and taking the opportunity to put in a good run block. Fortunately it didn't set me back too much and I have been able to have several successful rides since healing. Needless to say I am already looking forward to the next camp to redeem myself....rumors of a Fall camp make me very happy.
17 days until IMCDA....thanks for reading.
Love your posts they are inspiring.
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